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The Seeds of Chaos
"The Seeds of Chaos" is a prophecy predicting the return of Tharizdun after his binding in the Abyss. This prophecy has been studied and argued about for centuries by scholars and cultists, but little intellectual progress has been made due to the vague language and mysterious origins of the prophecy. It reads as follows: :: Tarry not, his icy chains sag in this vast dark :: How long stood an old tree :: Seeds lack blood for root :: Battles wet the soil :: Sprout, roots :: Fire nor axe of grim snows mar a new twig :: Dark on dark he scrapes a patch :: and in the garden night :: enter four and four seeds that sprout :: Chains of arrested bedlam and anger and divine justice are shaken :: On prisoner unholy do new pips form bark of madness :: Crashing havoc created dark of darks :: A sentence appealed :: Now the god that was declared exiled :: grasps this tattered hold :: He is free :: Those seeds of eight now depart :: At mother tree they shall unite :: No time or distance too great :: His wrath is close :: As the tree withers he waits :: Leaves fall vainly :: At each fall, shadows chase the fading, dim light :: The last leaf breaks the divide :: A curse floods the dam :: There are no seeds :: My number yields to wisest one a proverb History and Interpretation The origins of the prophecy are unknown, but the earliest mention of it came from ancient texts and transcripts from the earliest gatherings of the Cult of the Elemental Eye written in the language of the Abyss. Scholars of deities and the Pantheon have attempted to decipher the meaning of the text. There are several interpretations of the meaning, ramifications, and validity of the prophecy. The most widely accepted belief is that the prophecy refers to the imprisonment of Tharizdun in the abyss. It tells of the binding magic, "an old tree", that has kept him there. However, the magic has faded over time. The magic will then send out manifestations of itself when its duration nears its end, namely, the "seeds." If the "seeds" are not returned to the source with fresh binding magic, Tharizdun will escape his binds and be free to engulf the world in chaos and madness. The magic needed would resemble the original conditions of the binding enchantments placed upon Tharizdun. The prophecy speaks of "blood for root" and "battles" that "wet the soil." This leads most to assume that the binding magic is based on war and death. Therefore, the "seeds" would need to be exposed to proper amounts of deadly violence in order to regain the magic's potency. The majority of this interpretation was presented by the wizard and scholar Xanaleth who then went on a search for the famed seeds. He even claimed to his closest friends that he had found one or more before he disappeared.